Recently, a time for access to an image is considerably shortened as a result of progress in electronics technology, and a rapidity of processing is increasingly demanded to a light-sensitive material. Consequently, many serious requirements are made on the light-sensitive material. Among them a requirement of anti-static property is particularly serious.
A high-molecular electrolyte or a surfactant has be usually used as an antistatic agent. These compounds, however, have a drawback that the developing solution is made turbid or a sludge is formed in the developing solution since the compounds are water-soluble and dissolved out into the developing solution at the time of processing.
Consequently, selection of a high-molecular electrolyte or a surfactant each having a high water solubility, or making cross-link the high-molecular electrolyte has been taken as the countermeasure for such the drawback.
However, it is required to reduce an amount of the waste liquid of a processing solution since an environmental regulation is made serious. The problems of the turbid and the sludge cannot be solved by the foregoing countermeasure when the processing is carried out with a reduced replenishing.
Japanese Patent (JP) No. 6-49894 discloses the use of an electric conductive layer comprised of water-insoluble crystalline metal oxide particles together with a hydrophobic binder such as polyvinylidene for avoiding such the problems. In this case, it is necessary to raise the filling ratio of the crystalline metal oxide particles to obtain a sufficient electric conductivity by the metal oxide because the hydrophobic binder is not electric conductive. In this publication, a filling ratio of not less than 80% is required. However, when the metal oxide particles are added in an amount of not less than 80%, the transparency of the processed film is lowered since the crystalline metal oxide particle scatters light.
As a countermeasure against such the problem, Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection (JP O.P.I.) No. 3-24656 discloses use of a hydrophilic binder and a nonionic surfactant having polyoxyethylene group together with the crystalline metal oxide. Moreover, JP O.P.I. No. 3-24957 proposes using a hydrophilic binder and a fluorinated surfactant.
However, the filling ratio of the metal oxide particles of not less than 50% is necessary for making a sufficient conductivity even when such the technique is applied. Consequently, the problem of turbid is not solved yet.
On the other hand, a tabular silver halide grain emulsion is well known as an emulsion having a high spectral sensitization efficiency and a high resolving power. However, the tabular silver halide grain has a drawback that the tone of a silver image formed from the tabular silver halide grains is yellowish black, not pure black tone, and the yellowish black ton image gives an unpleasant feeling to the observer in the case of a light-sensitive material for medical use. Such the phenomenon is often occurred in an emulsion of fine grains or that of the tabular grains having a small thickness, and a countermeasure using a toning agent has been disclosed.
However, the know toning agents (for example, a certain kind of mercapto compound) are hardly put practical use by the reason of that the application of the toning agent to a high-sensitive emulsion causes a considerable desensitization.
Recently, it is become essential to shorten the time for processing and drying for a ultra-rapid processing. For example, a rapid drying by a heating roller is applied.
The application of the ultra-rapid processing or rapid drying to the light-sensitive material causes an unevenness of development or drying, which results an unevenness of the glossiness of the surface of the light-sensitive material. The unevenness of the glossiness of the surface causes, together with the tone of silver image, considerable degradation of the image quality. Accordingly, further development has been demanded.